15 games seems kinda ham fisted to me. I mean you shouldn't be giving gloved love taps to a guy when he is down like that but hey its a contact sport and fighting is expressly allowed...5 games is plenty.

as for the rest of shanaban's dubious decision making...someone ought to put together a video package of his lady byng career

Neal, a repeat offender, only gets 5 games for deliberately kneeing a downed player in the head.

Orpik's hit was late and dirty. No way Eriksson was receiving that pass.

The Penguins instigated the entire situation and get away with a 5 game suspension.

Orpik was pussing out, besides, he should have been in the penalty box when that scrum ensued.

This wasn't as bad as Bertuzzi because it wasn't blindsided. It was dirty, no question, but not quite the same.

While I think 15 games is fine, and maybe lenient considering the comparisson to Bertuzzi's suspension, I think that Neal should have gotten at least 10 games, and Orpik should have gotten a couple of games.

Although glad he got 15 it is not enough. Bert got hammered for his. Thornton, although not a repeat offender is little more that a goon. The intent on his was the same as the Bert hit, retribution. But then again Keith only got 5 for his attempt to decapitate Dank.

So I'm ok with 15 just confused as to why Kassian got 8, Hansen got anything, and Rome got 4 while Keith only gets 5.

Next up, get fucking Chara, this guy should be a repeat offender but he gets the Pronger treatment.

Neal, a repeat offender, only gets 5 games for deliberately kneeing a downed player in the head.

Orpik's hit was late and dirty. No way Eriksson was receiving that pass.

The Penguins instigated the entire situation and get away with a 5 game suspension.

Orpik was pussing out, besides, he should have been in the penalty box when that scrum ensued.

This wasn't as bad as Bertuzzi because it wasn't blindsided. It was dirty, no question, but not quite the same.

While I think 15 games is fine, and maybe lenient considering the comparisson to Bertuzzi's suspension, I think that Neal should have gotten at least 10 games, and Orpik should have gotten a couple of games.

What bullshit. Bert wasn't trying to hurt Moore. He was tugging on his jersey to get him to turn around and fight. Moore skated away like a coward. His injury was an accident. Thornton on the other hand slew footed an unsuspecting Orpik and then punched when he was defenceless on the ice resulting in a concussion. If you ask Bert he never intended to hurt Moore he wanted to fight him (OK, hurt him with fists). Thornton's intention and his actions as targeting attack on a player that had no chance to respond.

15 games for that?

Joke.

Bert's suspension was supposed to be a bench mark. No more goonery or player retribution on ice.

There is no such thing as climate change...there is no such thing as climate change...there is such thing as climate change...

Arachnid wrote:Bert's suspension was supposed to be a bench mark. No more goonery or player retribution on ice.

Yep. If the NHL was serious about concussions and violence they would start punishing people like baseball has started to with the PED's. First time offenders get whacked with a 50 game suspension. That's 1/3 of their season.

Acts like Thornton's are so far removed from normal game activity that I think 25 games would've been appropriate. 15 is comparable to the 10 Clarkson got for coming off the bench and doing a whole lot of nothing...

Neal, a repeat offender, only gets 5 games for deliberately kneeing a downed player in the head.

Orpik's hit was late and dirty. No way Eriksson was receiving that pass.

The Penguins instigated the entire situation and get away with a 5 game suspension.

Orpik was pussing out, besides, he should have been in the penalty box when that scrum ensued.

This wasn't as bad as Bertuzzi because it wasn't blindsided. It was dirty, no question, but not quite the same.

While I think 15 games is fine, and maybe lenient considering the comparisson to Bertuzzi's suspension, I think that Neal should have gotten at least 10 games, and Orpik should have gotten a couple of games.

What bullshit. Bert wasn't trying to hurt Moore. He was tugging on his jersey to get him to turn around and fight. Moore skated away like a coward. His injury was an accident. Thornton on the other hand slew footed an unsuspecting Orpik and then punched when he was defenceless on the ice resulting in a concussion. If you ask Bert he never intended to hurt Moore he wanted to fight him (OK, hurt him with fists). Thornton's intention and his actions as targeting attack on a player that had no chance to respond.

15 games for that?

Joke.

Bert's suspension was supposed to be a bench mark. No more goonery or player retribution on ice.

Spidey, I can't tell if you are just trying to stir shit up here or not.....

Looking at both plays I will retract my previous comment and say that they are equally bad.

Bertuzzi's attack on Moore was totally blindside and from behind. His initial intent was to fight Moore, Moore declined. Moore didn't answer the bell in the first game after he hit Naslund, and so this was definitely not a case of just a quick reaction to an event. I still maintain that the injuries that Moore sustained were the result of the dog pile of his Avalanche teammates as they came to his "rescue". I also don't think that Bertuzzi's punch knocked Moore out, I think Moore took a dive was further injured by going head first into the ice. No doubt about the injuries sustained during the pile up.

Thornton's attack on Orpik was just as bad, and it is the same story, a late, and dirty hit, on a skilled forward, and the guy who threw it chickens out and won't answer the bell. If Orpik had just stood in and thrown a few with Thornton initially then none of this happens. Thornton's take down is pretty brutal because it hauls Orpik down hard and backwards, but the punch thrown wasn't a full wind up, and I just don't see a guy being knocked out by that punch, likely winded by the impact with the ice. I honestly wouldn't be surprised if in this case the trainers told him to stay down not wake up. I think that someone who is knocked out like that is going to be kept over night for observation and not released to travel with the team.....just saying, although if Spock was around he might be a better source for that opinion.

I've seen some very conscious people in my line of work who didn't drop like Moore did that after being sucker punched bare knuckled or hit with a bat. Same for Orpik, guys that have been taken down from behind and had the shit kicked out of them, their faces a mess, and they didn't lose consciousness.

I just can't get over the fact that Neal only gets 5 games for what, IMO, is an equally dirty move. Some would argue that you can't totally judge Neal's intent, but I think it's more than clear when a guy extends and braces his knee before contact, also, most players who run into a downed player unexpectedly end up going A over T themselves.

15 is definitely not enough if you compare Berts and Thortons. The only difference was the resulting injury to the victim, which I still think is a bull-shit benchmark for suspensions. Thortons actions could have easily ended a career. Once again Jacobs wields his power over Buttman.

Any suggestion that Orpik's hit was late is total bullshit. It was a fair & clean hit. This is a fast game & the puck took a bad bounce (which Eriksson got his stick on). It was a strange play & unfortunate that the player got hurt but it was a hockey play. Thornton should have been suspended for the rest of the season. Perhaps that would get the message across. All these pussy suspensions do nothing to deter players from these acts retribution, obviously.

From behind...a slew foot...punching multiple times while prone on the ice. C'mon. The "action" of that was actually worse than Bertuzzi, its just the results weren't as serious. This wasn't as bad as McSorely's though although all 3 belong in the same conversation as does Matt Johnson's sucker punch of Jeff Beukeboom which ended his career but got very little fanfare.